Tours & Travel Guide: Darjeeling: The Best Hill Station of West Bengal, India

One of most beautiful hill station in eastern India that is situated in the state of West Bengal is Darjeeling which is located in the foothills of the Himalaya at an elevation of 6,700 ft (2042m) .This is a district town situated northernmost part of the state of west Bengal in India.The place is famous as the Queen of Hills for its natural beauty and Darjeeling tea.The town Darjeeling is district head quarters and has three subdivisional quarters Siliguri,Kalimpang and Karseong.Here another town has been developed as a lake resort the name is Mirick.The place has been certified as world heritage site by UNSCO for spectacular view of world’s third highest mountain Kanchenjunga, Darjeeling Himalaya Railwaya ,Tea garden. Himalaya Railway connects the town with plain which is being still served by traditional steam locomotives. Because of geographical advantages tea growers developed technique new technique of fermentation for procuring black tea, which was initiated from the British administrator in the mid of the19th century.For this reason the quality and flavor of Darjeeling tea have been recognized as most popular brand of black tea. There are still have some British style public schools in Darjeeling which attract pupils from all over the country and neighboring countries. The third highest peak Kanchenjunga (28209 ft high) is the most prominent visible and highest peak, Mount Everest (29035 ft) can be visible in days clear clouds.

Best time for Visitors: The place is getting enough tourists all over the year, even during heavy monsoon months from June to September.Best time can be March to mid-June that is spring and summer season. Another time is September to November that is autumn.During these seasons, temperature varies from 8 to 25 degree centigrade. The district Darjeeling experiences heavy rain from mid June to mid September due to rainy season and the temperature goes below freezing point at winter season that is December to February.

The Places of Attractions:

TIGER HILL :The place situated at an elevation of 8482 ft is famous for sunrise.If you want to enjoy the romantic view of Himalaya you need to reach here before sunrise.All major peaks of Himalayas is visible on clear cloud. A lovely picnic spot Senchal Lake is situated nearby.

BATASIA LOOP: The view of the loop is spectacular and it will enrich your feelings if you journey through toy train (Himalayan railway)

LLOYD BOTANICAL GARDEN: The land of the garden provided by William Lloyd established in 1978 with wide area of 40 acres. Here you will huge get collection of local forest native plants,Orchids from Singalila range.

AVA ART GALLERY: This art gallery was jointly established by late Avadevi in 1965 and Bhopal Rao Sett where you will get many traditional paintings in the gallery, hand made embroidery and silk applique.

ROCK GARDEN AND GANDA MALAYA PARK: Rock garden situated 10Km down and Ganga Malaya is further 3Km from the town.Rock garden has been created by cutting rocks and there have some wonderful waterfalls. Malaya park has a special attraction of beautiful flower garden and trees.

RANGEETT VALLEY PASSENGER CABLE CAR; This oldest passenger ropeway provides wonderful panoramic trip to Singla bazaar.You will get a spectacular view of the valley of tea gardens and little river Rangeet.In The ropeway journey will take about 45 minutes you will experience from the beauty from altitude 7000ft to 800ft where the last station Sigla Bazar.

PADNAJA NAIDU HIMALYAN ZOO;OGICAL PARK; It is one of the Indian best zoo founded in 1958 for the purpose of Himalayan fauna conservation. The zoo has been enriched by some species such as Himalayan Bears, red pandas,Tibetan Wolves, snow leopards

DHIRDHAM TEMPLE; This is a beautiful Nepali Hindu temple of lord shiva which was built by Purna Bahadur Pardhan (known as Rai Saheb) in 1939. You will find the architecture of Pasupatinath Temple of Katmandu, Nepal.The entire premise is adorned with trees and shrubbery which is really nice and attractive.

MONATERIES;

YIGA CHOELING MONASTERY: This is located at Ghoom at an elevation of 8000ft about 8 Km from the town.The main attraction of the Monasteries is the Gelukepa or Yellow Hat sect which was constructed in 1850 by the famous Mongolian monk and astrologer, Sokpo Sherab Gyatso. Collections of some handwritten Buddhist manuscripts can be found here.

DRUK THUPTENSANGAG CHOLING MONASTRY: This is the most popular monastery locally known as Dali monastery or Dali Gomba. This is also the headquarters of the Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery was inaugurated in 1993 by HH Dalia Lama and the door is open for all religion. The sole objective of the monastery is to conserve culture and tradition of Tibetan.

How to reach:

There are is no broad gauge railway station or airport in Darjeeling town itself.Siliguri is the gateway of the town situated near about 88 Km.Railway junction station is NJP (New Jalpaiguri) and the nearest airport is Bagdorra situated at a distance of 94 Km.

Private taxi,share taxi is available from Baddogra airport but no bus service available and it will take 3 hours to reach Darjeeling town.From NJP railway station station ample taxis, share Jeeps are available and it will take 3.5 hours to reach Darjeeling town.You can even take toy train( known as Himalayan Railway ) through scenic mountain route but it will take near about 8 hours to reach Darjeeling